Monthly Archives: April 2016

Psalm 40: 1:4 I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet upon a rock and made my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord. Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods. This passage came to me a few weeks ago and I have been leaning on it daily! Also, a favorite group of mine sung a rendition in the early 80’s called “40.” You may have heard of U2.

Great meeting with Natalie Grant last Saturday. Your music and talents are certainly a blessing and shinning light! And thanks for the mention Bob Burney on your show last Thursday prior to the RUC banquet! Your service for the Lord is commendable and I certainly enjoyed your sports segment in regards to Curt Schilling and his firing from ESPN by stating his boldness. The Harbingers coming could not be more forth right when we align the current time with scriptures from Isaiah, especially 9 thru 11. Everyone remembers 9/11 but go back and read that passage in Isaiah. I would encourage all to read the book Harbinger or watch the series!

Next, why I am here, the golf courses below are just a snap shot of the ongoing progress from last week!

The Foxfire Course has been treated with prodiamine, and salt of dicmaba with 2 – ethyls, and a growth regulator. We sprayed the toprange tee and all the tees and fairways on the Foxfire course with 25-0-0 fertilizer! One 30!gallon liquid drum is empty. These product combinations will erradicate the dandelions, all broad leaf plants, and prevent the emergence of the digitaria species which has 4 bundle sheath cells or is a warm season grass commonly called crabgrass, however there are many mutations. The mode of action chosen for Foxfire was due to the variety of the Barricade of turf and the dinitroanalin properties. We will spray the rest of Players Club today with dithiopyr and other selected products to prevent crabgrass and other unwanted plants. The weather 15 days ago was snowing, then we followed that up with rain and wind! However, even with both spray tanks breaking down this week we managed to make progress but obviously not at the ergonomic output planned.

Thanks Brad for getting the greens Secure!

Bunker worked continues when Luis and his crew showed up to make progress. The next step will be to begin adding sand to them

Jim switched out and fixed many units this week but the drive wheel on the sidewinder was one of the most important.

Jim also rebuilt 3 pumps for the greens sprayer this week.

Thanks Mid-Ohio for pulling the pumps out of the pump stations so we can replace the bad ones. I have too many photos to list here but this is just a snap shot from Players Club. No I didn’t operate the crane but Joe was one of the best.

Thanks Doug for cutting the holes in the roof of the pump stations. And thanks Daniel & Derek from Mid Ohio! The bridge held up great on Foxfire for the crane to access that pump station.

Many other pieces of equipment broke down this week and delayed some progress but Jim and Fred helped get them back up and running somewhat. Thank you to my team, owners, and members for your patience and steadfast commitment to making Foxfire Golf Club, Inc the best 36 hole semi- private club in central Ohio area. And congratulations to our new slope rating that gives us the third toughest slope rating. Obviously, my goal is # 1 and getting there. Mrs. Graves the owner was planting azaleas at the front entrance under the spruce trees Saturday! This should look wonderful!

To Nancy thank you for the 7218 days of marriage~ that’s 19 years 9 months and 4 days! We count each day one by one as a blessings and it also helps me keep track!

See y’all on the course! We are going to make dramatic improvements this season with steadfast ergonomic planning and implementation where fiscally feasible ! Please excuse any brevity or typos this is all done through an I- Phone. Someday I will upgrade with a more user friendly lap top or desk top. Siri don’t know Jesus.

We have had over an inch and a half of rain in the last 24hrs. I expect a frost delay today. We will try and mow greens and continue working in the bunkers. The crabgrass preventer will continue to go out. Jim reinforced the small sprayer putting chains on the booms to hold them up and create more ground clearance.

Fred installed the new lights in the barn last week while it was raining.

Jim also installed the new air hose and is continuing to get our second tee mower put together.

John Deere brought our Kubota back yesterday and installed a new transfer pump for the fuel injection system. Thank you Justin for arranging and helping get this repaired.

Franklin Equipment is bringing back our other New Holland tractor today. Thank you Jason and the guys at Franklin! They installed a new clutch and we have a tractor back in operation after 8 years or more of not being utilized from what I hear!

Thank you Nancy for volunteering some time to paint tee markers yesterday!

Philippians 1:2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thank you to those of you that were able to listen to the radio broadcast for RUC. I did not realize how many were listening until I did not update my web page for the second show. Here are the links below and just a reminder this is a show for a non profit organization that brings a message to children in public and private schools. When you click on the links my part is #7 and # 8 and you will Catherine’s introduction for the first 3 minutes and the entire broadcast is only 12 minutes.

El Niño continues we had .35″ Wednesday night prior to the cold front arriving this morning. I remember the last El Niño in 2008, and Nancy and I were in Sarasota. Each region of the country is effected uniquely from the various weather patterns and typically after El Niño subsides the sister arrives La Niña, and I would expect those conditions by late summer in to the Fall equinox.

Judge came out and mowed greens this week twice. The nutrient application applied is helping smooth them out and slow the growth. Jim has the second greens unit ready and as soon as it warms up to a consistent temperature we will mow both courses daily. Fred and Nancy did an excellent job mowing the rough even though it was wet we tried to cut a week ago in preparation for today’s tournament! Fred got hung up a little bit here on the mounds on 3 Players. No damage was done and I was already out on the tractor to pull Nancy out off Foxfire between 13/14 so I swung over to get Fred. Usually it’s stuck Chuck that gets stuck but he was doing an excellent job on the trim mower on Foxfire. I will have Brad mow the “First Cut” on Players today if it is not too wet since he knows where I want the walk paths and designs around the greens.

Jared did come in and help get the greens sprayed with nutrients, and Primo! The Primo will reduce any seed heads! We did have to replace a couple of nozzles because of the mounding around the greens and the booms do not raise up and down, ergo Jared got one of the ends hung up. Thank you Kurt at Blackhawk for the replacement. I will bring it back today on my way up! Teaching Jared calibration and below Jim is teaching Ralphy how to rebuild a sprayer pump.

Nancy below before she got stuck!

Testing the John Deere 2653 A First Cut mower! It is cutting great when it starts and runs. Jim did get the rear wheel put on correctly. A previous technician had the tire on backwards and it was rubbing the hydraulic hoses. The Fall fertility is Cracking Now! The grass is growing and glowing!

Sunrise last Friday with a Frost delay and we may have one today! Thanks #Volunteer brush cutter Bill Brooks for cutting the wild Japnesse Holy back off the cart path! 14 looks better we need to do the left of 13 tee box next.

Luis my bunker crew is getting the bunkers ready for season. Jose has helped him this past week some but it will take more time. The longer we go with out staff in the Fall until now, the longer it takes to get them back I shape. It’s the simple accounting principle of opportunity cost and ergonomic output. But Luis is a great bunker crew and course set-up guy! We added the practice cups last Friday!

I will continue the update next week I have to upgrade my website now! I need more space! See you on the course! With the upgrade I will be able to post videos so stay tuned! Who knows where we will go!